


O None of These More Than the Flame of Thee

by whatthedubbs



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe: Tea Shop AU, M/M, Originally intended for YARBB 2013, This takes place in the North West of England
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 10:16:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1547093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatthedubbs/pseuds/whatthedubbs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was originally supposed to be a 20,000 word fic for the YARBB.  When my thesis and work in general got more intense, I had to lay it by the wayside, but I liked this bit so much, I just couldn't not post it.</p><p>Anyway, welcome to the Tea Shop!AU.  Inspired by an actual place called Gillam's in Ulverston, Cumbria.  If people like this, I might post some of the other sections I actually wrote.</p>
            </blockquote>





	O None of These More Than the Flame of Thee

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cris-Art](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Cris-Art).



The first time they cuddle is just a few hours after they finish moving into the new shop. It's been a really long day, and Tommy spent all morning getting nasty looks thrown at him as he helped Teddy scrape the paint off the front window. And then there was the lorry driver who hadn't shown up, and the hour of patient but firm telephone conversation that Teddy had had with the man's manager, and then all afternoon moving boxes up to their flat on the third floor, and the espresso machine seeming to gain fifty pounds on the ride over and the curious people who kept interrupting them whenever they were seeming to get into the flow of things (Teddy stopped to talk to _every. Last. One_. Tommy didn't understand his boyfriend sometimes).    


The point is, he's exhausted, and doesn't have the energy to protest when, at the end of the day, Teddy snags the corner of his sweater and pulls Tommy down on top of him on the sofa.  Tommy would protest, he really would, because he doesn't do this kind of thing.  It feels too close, too good in a way that puts him on guard, because he knows from experience that things like this don't happen to him. But he's been on his feet since five in the morning, and Teddy's arms are a pleasant weight across his back and his chest is rising and falling in a rhythm that's already making Tommy go boneless. So all he does is make a vague grumbling sound and closes his eyes.  

 

"Tired?"

 

Tommy grunts his assent as Teddy rubs a large hand up and down his spine, warm and solid and slow.

 

"Me too," Teddy's voice is a comfortable vibration against his chest as he speaks.  "You wanna order out for dinner, or should I make something?"

 

Tommy cracks an eye with effort and squints at Teddy. "Order out.  I'm going to take a nap."

 

Teddy's chuckle makes him bounce gently up and down, and it feels like _love_.  Tommy ignores the way it makes his chest feel like its been lifted up through the top of his head and let's his eyes slide shut again instead, giving another disgruntled grumble when Teddy pulls Tommy's phone out of his back pocket to call in an order for pizza and bread sticks. He's asleep before Teddy puts the phone down.

 

* * *

 

 

When he wakes up, Teddy's managed to spread both himself and the soft blue blanket he keeps under the armchair over Tommy.  There's also a hand in the short hair at the nape of Tommy's neck, Teddy's fingers twitching slightly as he sleeps. His nose is buried under Tommy's chin, his blond hair tickling Tommy's face gently with every breath Tommy takes.  

 

Tommy's attempts to slip away earn him only a fitful groan and a tightening of Teddy's arms around his torso, so he let's his limbs go loose again and sighs to himself.  Wraps his arms and legs around Teddy instead and gives him a little surreptitious squeeze before letting his eyes slide closed again.

 

He'd poke his boyfriend, but really, he's too comfortable to care right now. Teddy, for all his musculature, is actually really soft and yielding when he's asleep, which always takes him by surprise.  He'd always imagined that having Teddy lie on top of him would be uncomfortable; too close and restricting.  Instead, Teddy's managed to roll them slightly so that Tommy's in the corner between the seat and the back, so that there's some space for Tommy to move around in and so he doesn't have to take all of Teddy's weight on top of him. He wonders if Teddy did that on purpose; whether Teddy's really that good at reading him, or if he's just like that, and Tommy just got lucky.

 

He realizes that a year ago, he wouldn't have even considered the second option.

 

He's interrupted from his introspection by the bell ringing.  Teddy stirs fitfully at the sound, rubbing his nose hard against Tommy's adam's apple as if he's trying to burrow into Tommy to get away from the noise.  Tommy huffs out a laugh because his boyfriend is ridiculous, and pokes him gently under the ribs.

 

"Hey there Teddy-bear," he says, scratching at the back of Teddy's neck with his other hand. He meant it to sound jaunty and just a little teasing, but instead his words come out slow and raspy with sleep, so that they sound almost /sweet/.  

 

After a moment of internal cringing and a careful throat-clearing, he tries again.

 

"Ted, we gotta get up.  The pizza's here, and I can't answer the door if you're lying on top of me like the world's heaviest throw rug."

 

"Don't wanna..." Teddy's voice is even more raspy than Tommy's, and Tommy can feel him snuggling closer in protest.

 

"Ted, you made the poor guy come out here at, like, ten thirty on a Wednesday night.  We've got to at least pay him.  And I'm hungry." Tommy says in his whiny-est voice, giving him another prod in the ribs.  Teddy groans and rolls over, flipping Tommy on top of him.

 

"You go. I'm gonna stay here." Teddy closes his eyes again.

 

Tommy huffs and slides off Teddy's chest. "I'm not feeding you, so you better be sitting up when I get back," he calls over his shoulder as he goes to the door.

 

The pizza guy is thankfully quick; just hands over the pizza, takes the notes Tommy gives him (which include a tip because he knows how Teddy feels about that), and leaves promptly.  Tommy spends a quick second looking between the pizza and his boyfriend (who, despite his warning, is now lying on his back, obviously having gone back to sleep) before making a snap decision and taking a seat squarely on Teddy's stomach, setting the pizza box down on their coffee table and grabbing a slice.

 

Teddy, of course, groans and tries to sit up, causing Tommy to make a completely manly squeak as he tries to stay on and not drop his pizza or elbow Teddy in the face.  He's only marginally successful.

 

"Ow."

 

"Sorry, not sorry!" Tommy snickers into his slice of pizza. "I told you to get up before I got back."

 

"Tommyyyyyyy!" Teddy scrunches his eyes closed, pawing blindly at Tommy's side with big warm hands.

 

Tommy finds himself suddenly fighting the urge to make some sort of embarrassingly smitten noise at the picture he makes. Instead, he shoves the rest of his slice of pizza into his mouth and bounces up and down gently on Teddy's abdomen. "Having some trouble there, big guy?"

 

Teddy grunts softly and suddenly Tommy's being grabbed around his waist and yanked back against Teddy's torso, Teddy's free arm coming around across his neck in a gentle but firm headlock as Tommy yelps in surprise. "Hey, let go!"

 

He flails for a few seconds in an attempt to make Teddy let go, but the larger man just chuckles quietly into his hair and squeezes him tighter.

 

"You were bouncing on me." He can _feel_ Teddy's pout against the back of his head.

 

"Well, /someone/ decided he was going to be clever and not get up when his boyfriend asked him to."

 

"But I was tired."

 

"Then maybe you should have gone to lie down in your _bed_. You know, since I helped you drag it all the way up here?" Tommy retorts with a put-upon sigh.

 

"But I was comfy _here_ ," Teddy whines , rubbing his nose against the curve of Tommy's right ear in a way that Tommy should really find more annoying. "Will you get me a slice of pizza?"

 

Tommy rolls his eyes at the ceiling. "No.  I told you I wasn't feeding you when I got up to answer the door. You can sit up and get your own piece of pizza."

 

"Please?" Teddy almost croons in his ear "I'll make it up to you."

 

Tommy's abs jump involuntarily as Teddy's thumb slips under the hem of his shirt to brush over them lightly.

 

"Are you seriously trying to bribe me to give you a slice of the pizza that's literally _right there_ by offering me sex?"

 

Teddy snorts, his hand straying a bit farther up across Tommy's bare skin.

 

"Depends. Is it working?"

 

"Maybe." Tommy can feel his face heating up as Teddy's other fingers start to push at the waistband of his underwear where it's showing over the top of his jeans.

 

"Good." Teddy's hands withdraw. "Now, can I have some pizza?"

 

Tommy smacks him.


End file.
